Conservatives at the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) general assembly blocked approval of the liberal nominee for the denomination’s presidency. Disciple Renewal, the conservative arm of the 1.1 million-member denomination, had opposed the election of Michael Kinnamon, dean of Lexington Theological Seminary. “Opposition to Michael Kinnamon is not personal; it is opposition to his views on key faith issues,” said Kevin Ray, leader of Disciple Renewal. Kinnamon holds a prochoice position on abortion, favors ordaining homosexuals and lesbians, and believes salvation is possible outside of Jesus Christ. At the assembly, the nominee failed to gamer the two-thirds majority vote necessary for approval.
Responding to discord in the denomination, assembly delegates elected William Nichols as president. Nichols is regarded as a strong leader and bridge builder.
MORMONS
Satanists In Church
Officials of the Mormon church are investigating claims that Satanists—posing as patriarchs, temple workers, and other church workers, including a bishop—have infiltrated the church and are responsible for as many as 60 documented cases of ritualistic abuse.
Glenn Pace, a high-ranking Mormon in charge of conducting an in-house investigation of the matter, says he believes 800 or more Satanists are affiliated with Mormon churches and practicing their occultic rituals in the Salt Lake Valley alone. “Not only do the perpetrators represent a cross section of the Mormon culture, but sometimes the abuse has taken place in our own meetinghouses,” Pace told a special Mormon committee.
A spokesman for the Mormon church, Donald LeFevre, said that while some Satanists may have infiltrated the church, Pace’s estimates are probably overblown. Cult watchers Jerald and Sandra Tanner uncovered and released the Pace memo. “We do not know that these tales of satanic rituals and human sacrifices are true,” the Tanners said, as quoted in the Chicago Tribune. “But we do know that Pace is a very high-ranking church official, and we do know that the memo in question is authentic.”
CRISWELL COLLEGE
Patterson Out, Then In
Paige Patterson held on to his job as president of Criswell College, after the school’s trustees rescinded an earlier action to remove him from office. Trustees of the 335-student Bible college had voted in an executive session on October 28 to fire Patterson, who had led the Dallas school since 1975. But the decision outraged students and faculty; 25 of the 30 regents resigned in protest. Three past presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention—Charles Stanley, Adrian Rogers, and Jerry Vines—met with the trustees several days later to persuade them to change their minds. Trustees were reportedly dissatisfied with Patterson’s performance as an administrator and about the time he spent on denominational politics.
Youth for Christ/USA, the national headquarters organization for YFC, has emerged debt free from a year of financial struggles, ministry officials say. Sale of the organization’s headquarters building in suburban Denver, combined with redoubled fund-raising efforts and cost-cutting moves helped pull YFC/USA from the $1.8 million shortfall it faced last spring (CT, April 8, 1991, p. 58).
Spokesman Bill LeToumeau says the ministry now holds a reserve of $345,000. Headquarters offices have been relocated to another office building nearby. Only two of approximately 50 headquarters workers were laid off amid spending cutbacks, he said.
In a press release, acting chief executive officer Roger Cross expressed gratitude to “the many donors and vendors who have stood by us as true friends during these difficult days.” He added that it was a “tremendous feeling to finally authorize checks for payment in full to suppliers who had been so patient.”
PEOPLE AND EVENTS
Briefly Noted
Announced: The retirement of Messiah College president Ray Hostetter, at the end of the 1993–94 year. Hostetter, 64, has served as Messiah president since 1964.
Selected: Ray Sutton, as the new president of Philadelphia Theological Seminary, the 104-year-old Reformed Episcopal seminary. Sutton has been a pastor in Texas.
James Didier, as the fourth president of Judson College in Elgin, Illinois. Didier has been Judson’s dean of student affairs.
Changed: The name of St. Paul Bible College, to Crown College, as of January 1, 1992. The college is now located in Minneapolis.
Admitted: By Mormon elder Paul Dunn, that he lied about his past, with regard to the war and baseball stories he uses in his highly popular Mormon sermons and books (CT, April 8, 1991, p. 63).
Deceased; Joseph Fletcher, 84, the former Episcopal priest who popularized situation ethics during the 1960s. He renounced his Christian faith later in life.
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